On this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron uncovers a critical mistake many organizations make: promoting top performers into management roles without preparing them for leadership. What seems like a reward can actually set both the employee and their team up for unnecessary struggle—and costly consequences.

Jenni walks through:

• The mindset shift from doer to leader: Why effective managers lead through others rather than just completing tasks themselves.
• Why not everyone should be promoted into people management: Sometimes the greatest impact comes from leveraging an employee’s strengths in their current role.
• The real cost of poor managers: Turnover, disengagement, and lost productivity can quickly add up to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Practical strategies for executives: How to assess, equip, and support your managers to thrive and protect your culture.

Key Takeaways:

• Prepare managers before promotion with structured training and coaching.
• Evaluate strengths to ensure employees are suited for people management roles.
• Monitor manager effectiveness through surveys, skip-level meetings, and ongoing support.
• Quantify the financial impact of disengagement and turnover to make leadership development a priority.
• Align promotions with organizational impact to maximize both employee contribution and business results.

For executives, people managers are the linchpin of culture and performance. This episode gives a clear, actionable framework to strengthen leadership, retain top talent, and protect your mission—all while avoiding preventable mistakes that cost time, money, and morale.

Build Your 2026 Leadership Development Plan with Jenni Catron

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In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron sits down with Randy Cochran, Senior Executive Pastor of Central Pastoral Development and Worship at Victory Church in Atlanta. Randy shares how his team has intentionally assessed and strengthened their organizational culture, especially during leadership transitions and in a multi-cultural, multi-site church environment with over 200 staff members and 140 nations represented.

They dive into the power of taking a hard look at your culture, the importance of building cross-functional culture teams, and the lessons learned from assessing staff experiences. Randy candidly discusses the surprises and insights from their culture surveys, the value of creating shared language and values, and how intentional efforts can accelerate integration and engagement across an organization.

Whether you lead a team of 5 or 500, you’ll walk away with practical strategies to assess your culture, close gaps between aspirations and reality, and empower your people to thrive.

Learn More About the LeadCulture Survey Here: https://www.get4sight.com/survey

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In this episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron unpacks a surprising new Gallup study revealing what she calls “the remote work paradox.” While fully remote employees report the highest levels of engagement, they’re also less likely to be thriving in life overall—experiencing more stress, loneliness, and emotional fatigue than their hybrid or in-office peers.

Drawing from her own work-from-home reflections and years of coaching leaders, Jenni explores the delicate balance between autonomy and connection in today’s hybrid workplaces. She highlights three key leadership takeaways from Gallup’s findings:

1. Physical distance creates mental distance—why remote employees need intentional connection rhythms.
2. Autonomy can be stressful—how too much flexibility without structure increases cognitive load.
3. Technology can frustrate—and what leaders can do to minimize coordination fatigue.

Whether your team is remote, hybrid, or fully onsite, Jenni helps you rethink how to build engagement that doesn’t cost wellbeing—and how to cultivate a culture where your people can be both engaged and thriving.

We need your help to get the LeadCulture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:

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In this episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron dives into practical strategies for investing in your team—even when budgets are tight. 

Many organizations cut leadership development and culture initiatives first, but Jenni shows why those investments pay off in engagement, retention, and performance.

You’ll learn:

• How to evaluate and strengthen your people managers to drive culture and performance
• Simple, cost-effective ways to invest in your entire staff’s growth
• How to build a culture plan that prevents drift and fosters alignment, trust, and clarity

Jenni also shares the surprising costs of disengagement and introduces the LeadCulture Network, the place where culture champions access every tool, resource, and training they need to build thriving team cultures—regardless of title or budget.

Whether you’re a culture champion or a leader looking for practical ways to invest in your people, this episode is full of actionable insights you can implement immediately.

We need your help to get the LeadCulture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:

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What does it look like to lead culture from the middle?

In this episode, Jenni sits down with Trina Lee, a mid-level leader at Africa New Life, who shares how she transformed her team’s culture—starting with small but intentional steps. From clarifying ownership (“Who takes the mail?”) to creating rhythms that celebrate people and reinforce values, Trina shows that you don’t have to sit in the corner office to shape the culture of your organization.

Together, they explore how clarity, consistency, and intentional rhythms create lasting cultural impact—even when you’re not the one setting strategy. You’ll hear how Trina’s approach began influencing the wider organization over time, proving that culture work done well always ripples out.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re the only one who cares about culture, this conversation will remind you that your leadership matters—and that building the team you want to be on can change everything.

Listen in to learn:

• Why clarity is a chief indicator of a healthy culture
• How to create consistent rhythms that reinforce your values
• Practical ways to influence culture—even when you don’t have top-down authority
• How culture systems sustain momentum and outlast transitions

We need your help to get the LeadCulture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:

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What if the greatest leader who ever lived was never actually called a “leader”?

This week on the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni sits down with Lyle Wells—President of Integris Leadership, pastor, and author of the new book Easy to Follow—to unpack how Jesus modeled leadership through behaviors that made people want to follow Him.

Together, they explore how leadership is more than authority—it’s about influence, behavior, and the success of others. Lyle shares eight characteristics that make leaders easy to follow, why “teaching not telling” changes everything, and how generosity and intentional mentoring can reshape your culture.

You’ll also hear their honest reflections on today’s leadership landscape—from the crisis of confidence many young leaders feel, to the surprising reasons some are stepping away from management roles.

If you’ve ever wondered how to lead with greater influence, humility, and purpose—this episode will challenge and encourage you to reframe what great leadership truly looks like.

🎧 Listen now and learn how to lead in a way that others naturally want to follow.

Learn more about Lyle Wells, Integrus, and Easy to Follow. 

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Leadership feels heavy right now. Between global uncertainty, shifting workplace dynamics, and the emotional weight our teams carry, many leaders are feeling the strain — and the loneliness — that comes with responsibility.

In this episode, Jenni Catron unpacks the weight of leadership and why it feels harder than ever to keep teams engaged. Drawing from her own leadership journey, Jenni shares what she’s learned about navigating seasons of isolation, rediscovering your “why,” and finding the community you need to sustain the work of leading well.

You’ll learn:

• Why leadership feels heavier right now—and what to do about it
• How to reconnect with your purpose when you feel drained
• Practical ways to invest in your team’s engagement and culture
• Why stewarding people is sacred work, not just strategic work

This conversation is an honest reminder that leadership is both a privilege and a responsibility—and that you don’t have to carry it alone.

Tune in for practical wisdom, encouragement, and tools to help you lead yourself well so you can lead others better.

We need your help to get the LeadCulture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:

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In this powerful episode of the LeadCulture Podcast, Jenni Catron sits down with executive business coach and former product designer Katie Richardson to unpack the intersection of leadership, identity, and faith. Katie shares her journey from designing award-winning products to building a multimillion-dollar international business—all while raising four children—and how she learned to lead without sacrificing what matters most.

Together, Jenni and Katie explore:

• Why your identity—not your hustle—sets the ceiling for your impact.
• How to navigate seasons where personal values and professional ambitions seem in conflict.
• The unexpected lessons Katie learned building and exiting her company, and how they shape the coaching she does with high-performing executives today.
• A peek into her VITAL framework for leaders who want to grow thriving businesses without losing themselves or their relationships in the process.

If you’ve ever wondered how to build a successful career or business without burning out—or how to align your leadership with your deepest values—this conversation will inspire and equip you.

You can learn more about Katie here. 

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In this episode of the Lead Culture Podcast, Jenni Catron is joined by Dr. Barry Jones and Camille Holland from Irving Bible Church to explore the “Commit” phase of the Lead Culture Framework—a crucial stage in sustaining organizational culture.

Culture isn’t something you build once and forget. Momentum naturally fades, values get fuzzy, and behaviors can slip if leaders don’t actively protect and reinforce the culture they’ve worked so hard to create. Barry and Camille share how they’ve navigated this challenge over the past two years, keeping their team aligned, engaged, and thriving—even through transitions and the occasional staff departure.

Listeners will hear real stories of:

• How Irving Bible Church identified early warning signs of cultural drift.
• Practical strategies for rebuilding trust and maintaining relational connectivity across a team.
• How cultural convictions—values tailored to the organization—are reinforced through intentional rhythms, surveys, and even playful recognition like staff “trophies.”
• The importance of culture champions in sustaining progress and keeping conversations alive at every level of leadership.
• Lessons learned from maintaining momentum after the initial excitement of culture work fades.

Whether you’re a senior leader, middle manager, or emerging culture champion, this episode offers actionable insights and encouragement for keeping your team’s culture alive, relevant, and aligned with your mission.

We need your help to get the LeadCulture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:

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Every leader has the power to shape culture—but too often, it’s left to chance, leaving teams disengaged and underperforming. In this episode, Jenni Catron dives into the equip phase of the LeadCulture Framework, showing how leaders at every level can take ownership of culture, equip their teams, and turn values and vision into action.

Jenni shares practical strategies for developing your people managers, building culture playbooks, and onboarding your existing team to ensure your culture isn’t just defined—it’s lived every day. She emphasizes that great leadership is the single biggest factor in team engagement, referencing research from Gallup and Harvard Business Review to highlight how managers shape employee experience and long-term growth.

Why You Should Listen:

• Understand why culture often fails despite good intentions—and what leaders can do to fix it.
• Learn practical ways to equip your leaders with the tools, skills, and confidence they need.
• Discover actionable steps you can implement immediately to strengthen your team’s alignment and engagement.
• Hear stories and examples from organizations successfully operationalizing their culture.

Major Takeaways:

1. Leaders Make or Break Culture – The engagement of your team is heavily influenced by direct managers.
2. Equipping is Key – Leadership development isn’t optional; it ensures vision and values translate into daily behaviors.
3. Simple, Consistent Actions Work – Start with small, repeatable steps to develop leaders, coach your managers, and reinforce culture.
4. Onboarding Matters – Existing and new employees need clear guidance to embody the culture you define.
5. Playbooks Are Your Sideline Guide – Use tools, visuals, and systems to make culture actionable and memorable.
6. Leadership Philosophy is Foundational – Managers must see leadership as sacred work, focused first on developing people.

LeadCulture Framework & Culture Matters Book – Jenni’s roadmap for operationalizing culture 

LeadCulture Network – Community, training, and tools for culture champions.

We need your help to get the LeadCulture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:

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